Ohio College Students Put Up Memorial Display for Slain 'Islamic Jihad' Terrorist, Others Killed in Airstrike
A student group at an Ohio college has erected a display memorializing the death of a prominent Islamic terrorist.
Students for a Free Palestine at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, set up the display Wednesday.
In a Thursday Facebook post, SFP shared photos of the memorial.
The post described the display as “a commemoration of the 34 Palestinians killed by Israeli rocket fire this last week.”
The memorial includes a sign explaining the function behind the display.
“Last week, Israel unleashed violent airstrikes on the Gaza strip to assassinate Bahaa Abu al-Atta and his wife on Tuesday, November 12th,” the sign read.
“In the process, killing 34 unarmed Palestinian civilians, including 8 children. Oberlin Students for a Free Palestine and Oberlin Jewish Voice for Peace have created this installation to commemorate the lives of these 34 Palestinians who died at the hands of Zionist Settler Colonialism.”
SFP’s Facebook post included a photo showing an array of small black flags as well as a larger Palestinian flag planted in the grass near the sign.
“We list the names and ages of those who were lost on each black flag,” the post said.
The Israeli airstrike memorialized by SFP was conducted on Nov. 12, The Associated Press reported.
Abu el-Atta, a senior commander with the terrorist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad, was the most prominent militant killed in the attack.
Israel had targeted the terrorist after a series of rocket attacks from Gaza.
PIJ is designated as a terrorist organization by the CIA and operates by staging “rocket attacks against civilians and military personnel primarily in southern Israel.”
After Hamas, PIJ is the second-largest terrorist group in Gaza and is sponsored by Iran and Syria, according to the nonprofit Counter Extremism Project.
The organization is “dedicated to eradicating Israel and establishing an autonomous Islamic Palestinian state in the lands currently comprising Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza.”
The Oberlin SFP did not mention Abu el-Atta’s terrorist affiliation in its Facebook post.
According to the SFP’s “About” page, the group’s “main goal is a free Palestine.”
“Our primary short-term tactic is to follow the call of Palestinian civil society for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions,” it says.
BDS is widely considered an anti-Semitic movement and was condemned by Congress in an overwhelmingly bipartisan House vote in July.
The Western Journal has reached out to Oberlin SFP for comment but has not yet received a response. We will update this article if and when we do.
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